Preconception seminal plasma concentrations of endocrine disrupting chemicals in relation to semen quality parameters among male partners planning for pregnancy.
Some non-persistent endocrine disruptors (EDCs) are adversely associated with semen quality and few studies have measured those EDCs in seminal plasma.
To find an association between EDCs in seminal plasma and semen quality parameters.
Five chemical classes of non-persistent EDCs were quantified in seminal plasma from 339 male partners who participated in a prospective pregnancy study. Bisphenols, benzophenone UV-filters, antimicrobials and phthalate diesters and their monoester metabolites were measured using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Semen samples underwent next day analysis using a standardized protocol for the quantification of 35 endpoints. Linear mixed-effects models of EDCs that were log transformed and rescaled by their standard deviations or dichotomized at the 75th percentile for each exposure and outcomes with covariate adjustment were performed. EDCs in seminal plasma were also assessed relative to clinical reference values of semen quality endpoints using logistic regression or generalized estimating equations.
The most consistent findings supporting adverse associations between seminal EDCs and semen quality were observed for some phthalate metabolites. For example, seminal plasma mono-ethyl, mono-n-butyl, mono-2-isobutyl and mono-benzyl phthalate concentrations were associated with decreased odds of having semen volume above clinical reference values (mEP: aOR=0.46; 95%CI= 0.32, 0.66; mBP: aOR=0.40; 95%CI= 0.28, 0.57; miBP: aOR=0.39; 95%CI= 0.27, 0.56), and mBzP: aOR= 0.34; 95%CI= 0.24, 0.49).
Environmentally relevant concentrations of specific phthalates in seminal plasma were associated with diminished semen volume, sperm motility, viability, and morphological alterations in sperm heads such that semen volume and sperm viability fall below reference values.
Smarr MM
,Kannan K
,Sun L
,Honda M
,Wang W
,Karthikraj R
,Chen Z
,Weck J
,Buck Louis GM
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Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation of young post-pubertal dairy bulls alters the fatty acid composition of seminal plasma and spermatozoa but has no effect on semen volume or sperm quality.
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of dietary supplementation with rumen protected n-6 or n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on the quantity and quality of semen from young post-pubertal dairy bulls. Pubertal Holstein-Friesian (n = 43) and Jersey (n = 7) bulls with a mean ± s.e.m. age and bodyweight of 420.1 ± 5.86 days and 382 ± 8.94 kg, respectively, were blocked on breed, weight, age and semen quality (based on the outcomes of two pre-trial ejaculates) and randomly assigned to one of three treatments: (i) a non-supplemented control (CTL, n = 15), (ii) rumen-protected safflower (SO, n = 15), (iii) rumen-protected n-3 PUFA-enriched fish oil (FO, n = 20). Bulls were fed their respective diets, ad libitum for 12 weeks; individual intakes were recorded using an electronic feeding system for the initial 6 weeks of the feeding period. Semen was collected via electro-ejaculation at weeks -2, -1, 0, 7, 10, 11 and 12 relative to the beginning of the trial period (week 0). On collection, semen volume, sperm concentration and progressive linear motility (PLM) were assessed. On weeks -2, -1, 0, 10, 11, 12, semen was packaged into 0.25 mL straws and frozen using a programmable freezer. On weeks -1, 7 and 11; a sub-sample of semen was separated into sperm and seminal plasma, by centrifugation and stored at - 20 °C until analysis of lipid composition. Semen from 10 bulls per treatment were used for post-thaw analysis at weeks 10, 11 and 12 (3 straws per ejaculate). Sperm motility was analysed by computer assisted semen analysis (CASA). In addition, membrane fluidity, acrosome reaction and oxidative stress were assessed using flow cytometry. Sperm from bulls fed SO had a 1.2 fold higher total n-6 PUFA content at week 11 compared to week -1 (P < 0.01) while bulls fed FO had a 1.3 fold higher total n-3 PUFA content, in sperm by week 11 (P < 0.01). There was no effect of diet on semen volume, concentration or PLM of sperm when assessed either immediately following collection or post-thawing. Membrane fluidity and oxidative stress of sperm were also not affected by diet. The percentage of sperm with intact-acrosomes was lower in CTL bulls compared to those fed SO (P < 0.01). In conclusion, while the lipid composition of semen was altered following dietary supplementation with either n-6 or n-3 based PUFA, this did not lead to measurable improvements in the quantity or quality of semen produced by young post-pubertal dairy bulls.
Byrne CJ
,Fair S
,English AM
,Holden SA
,Dick JR
,Lonergan P
,Kenny DA
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Association between trimester-specific exposure to thirteen endocrine disrupting chemicals and preterm birth: Comparison of three statistical models.
Growing evidence indicated that maternal exposure to some endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may increase the risk of preterm birth (PTB). However, few studies have evaluated the joint effect of EDCs on PTB.
This study aimed to evaluate the associations of maternal EDCs mixture in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters during pregnancy with PTB, and identify the vital components that mainly contribute to PTB.
This study included 847 pregnant women that provided urine samples for all three trimesters. Urinary concentrations of thirteen EDC metabolites (four phthalates, two parabens, three phenols, and four benzotriazoles and benzothiazoles) were examined. Logistic regression model, quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were applied to study the association.
Logistic regression model suggested that only bisphenol A (BPA) in the 1st trimester significantly increased the OR of PTB after adjusting for BPA exposure in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. Quantile g-computation model identified that urinary EDCs mixture in the 1st trimester were positively associated with PTB [OR (95 % CI): 1.98 (1.10, 3.58)], and the most heavily weighted component for PTB was BPA (26 %), followed by mono-2ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) (22 %). BKMR model determined a significant association between EDCs mixture in the 1st trimester and PTB when all EDC concentrations were at or above their 55th percentile compared with the median. The BKMR model found that BPA and MEHP were associated with an increase in the estimated probability of PTB, when the other EDCs were held to their 50th and 75th percentiles, respectively, in the 1st trimester.
The results of mixture analysis models indicated that exposure to higher EDCs mixture in the 1st trimester may increase the risk of PTB. BPA was considered as the most contributing factor for PTB among the detected EDCs.
Chen Y
,Xiao H
,Namat A
,Liu J
,Ruan F
,Xu S
,Li R
,Xia W
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Endocrine disrupting chemicals in seminal plasma and couple fecundity.
Growing evidence supports the importance of men's exposure to non-persistent endocrine disruptors (EDCs) and couple fecundability, as measured by time-to-pregnancy (TTP). This evolving literature contrasts with the largely equivocal findings reported for women's exposures and fecundity. While most evidence relies upon urinary concentrations, quantification of EDCs in seminal plasma may be more informative about potential toxicity arising within the testes. We analyzed 5 chemical classes of non-persistent EDCs in seminal plasma for 339 male partners of couples who were recruited prior to conception and who were followed daily until pregnant or after one year of trying. Benzophenones, bisphenols, parabens, and phthalate metabolites and phthalate diesters were measured using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) except for phthalate diesters, which were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Cox regression with discrete-time was used to estimate fecundability odds ratios (FORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each chemical to estimate the probability of pregnancy. While most EDCs were detected in seminal plasma, concentrations were lower than urinary concentrations previously analyzed for the cohort. None of the EDCs were significantly associated with fecundability even after covariate adjustment, though benzophenones consistently yielded FORs <1.0 (ranging from 0.72 to 0.91) in couple-adjusted models suggestive of diminished fecundity (longer TTP). The findings underscore that a range of EDCs can be quantified in seminal plasma, but the lower concentrations may require a large cohort for assessing couple fecundability, as well as the need to consider other fecundity outcomes such as semen quality.
Buck Louis GM
,Smarr MM
,Sun L
,Chen Z
,Honda M
,Wang W
,Karthikraj R
,Weck J
,Kannan K
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